Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Tempest Tuesday

Alright, my lovelies!

Time to test out another new concept. Tempest Tuesday will highlight the tempest that can both surround and consume the love interest in a romance. Whether it's sweet to the hottest of erotic romances, at the heart of them all are those two elements that throw those characters we love together and also threaten to rip them apart.

I'll occasionally feature something from a current work in progress, but for today I'm going to write on the fly. The first true meeting of some characters from a story that hasn't been written yet since this scene jumped to the forefront of my mind when I was considering what to use. It's the story of Chester Bloomfield and Deirdre Easton (no title yet). They are secondary characters in the planned sixth book of my Rift Hunter Series. Their story will actually be the first in a spinoff series featuring the Fae.

Deirdre stood off to the side partially hidden between the foilage, watching Cass and Leo dance around the moonlit garden surrounded by millions of roses that perfumed the air. God, what she'd give to have someone look at her the way Leo gazed at her sister. She almost snorted out loud at the thought.

Never going to happen, De! The little voice in her head said. No man alive wants a woman who's short and on the chunky side to boot.

She quickly silenced the damn voice with a well placed mental slap. She knew she wasn't pretty by most people's standards. Had even accepted it. But, seeing her baby sister find love with that blond Greek god of a man brought to the forefront of her mind all the faults the men she'd dated had pointed out over the years.

She felt a tear slide down her cheek. She swiped it away and deciding to leave before she brought the rest of the party down with her melancholy mood. She turned and had only taken two steps when she ran into a solid and extremely masculine chest. The scent of jasmine, sandalwood and something else roiled off him in waves, that should have been overpowering, but somehow it didn't. Instead it made her think of satin sheets, starlight and his naked flesh rubbing deliciously against hers.

"Where are you rushing off to, Deirdre? You know how upset Cassandra will be if you just disappear without saying good-bye."

The voice seemed to float on the air around her like the sound of tinkling bells that had been Tinkerbell's voice but deeper, more rich and melodic. Not high pitched and grating like she'd always considered Tinkerbell's. This one was dark and erotic and it sent shivers dancing across her skin. "I'm sure she'll..."

Whoever it was reached up and brushed away a tear from her cheek with his thumb. She strained to see through the darkness, wanting to find out if he was as sexy as his voice made him sound. But, all she could see was his shadow as he brought his finger to his lips and licked the tear away.

"Mmmm....I wonder....do you taste as decadent as your sorrow?"

Deirdre opened her mouth to reply, but her voice seemed to have fled. Which was odd since she normally had a retort for everything. It was her defense mechanism. All she could think about...wish for was that he would want to find out.

"What no sassy riposte?" He made a tsking sound. "I'm disappointed, fenyw. And here the only reason I agreed to be Leo's best man was because I knew I'd get to engage you in a spirited exchange again."

She started to ask who the hell he was to talk to her that way when his words sunk in. Leo's best man. Engage you in a spirited exchange? There was only one person she'd argued with that had ever called it that.

Chester Bloomfield.

Tall, dark, lithe and graceful. If you could call a man graceful, it would he him. No matter what he was doing. Running to do Leo's bidding for The Colosseum, chasing after and fighting the bad guys, or dancing...the man knew how to move his body and he looked damn good doing it. There was also something else about him that she couldn't put her finger on. It almost reminded her of the powers Cass and Leo were able to control, but more ethereal...more ancient.

He also annoyed the hell out of her with his constant baiting. Ever since the day they'd crossed paths for the first time, they'd been circling each other warily. Like two caged animals trying to wait out the other.

"Leave me alone, Bloomfield. I'm not in the mood for this tonight. I just want to go home and crawl into my bed. It's been a long day." She started to shove her way past him, but his arm snaked out at the last second and she found herself being spun around so that her backside came up flush with his front. She went still, images of the dream she'd had the night before flashing in her mind.

Images of him bending her over a bed, a table...really didn't matter and possessing her from behind.

She shook her head. There was no way she was going to go down that road. He was too beautiful to be interested in her. Even as the thought crept into her mind she felt him nuzzling her neck, pushing the thick tangle of red-gold curls over the opposite shoulder. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She silently cursed when she heard the breathless tone of her voice.

He nibbled the sensitive flesh, his lips inching ever closer to her ear. He bit into her earlobe harder.

A burst of intense pain shot through her, only to be replaced with a searing heat the next instant when he suckled it.

"Isn't it obvious, fenyw?" He chuckled softly in her ear. "I'm seducing you."

Hope you enjoyed this tempting treat! Next week I hope to have a snippet from "Falling Star" for you!

Have a great week!DrannoethDa...

ShayPS...Fenyw is woman in Welsh and Drannoeth Da means good morrow. I translated both on Google Translate.